Actress Regina King plays Shirley Chisholm in an upcoming Netflix biopic titled “Shirley.”
Netflix released promotional photos from the TV movie on Monday.
In 1972, Chisholm became the first woman to be elected to Congress. She was the first woman to run for president and the first Black candidate for the Democratic party.
She represented New York’s 12th congressional district from 1969 to 1983.
Regina, pictured, worked on the Chisholm project for 15 years with her younger sister, actress Reina King.
“What she did was so pioneering,” Regina told Harper’s Bazaar magazine. “She was a true maverick and, you know, we use this term all the time, but she was a true first.”
Born Shirley Anita St. Hill, Chisholm met private investigator Conrad O. Chisholm in the late 1940s. They married in 1949 and she suffered two miscarriages.
Chisholm gave up trying to start a family. She got her start in politics as a campaign worker in the 1950s.
Chisholm met a Brooklyn resident while running for the New York State Assembly in 1964.
The man told her, “Young woman, what are you doing out here in this cold? Did you get your husband’s breakfast this morning? Did you straighten up your house? What are you doing running for office? This is something for men.”
Chisholm explained that she was running for public office to improve her community. The man ended up signing the petition.
Political commentator Donna Brazile said Chisholm once told her, “‘If you wait for a man to give you a seat, you’ll never have one! If they don’t give you a seat at the table, bring in a folding chair.'”
Chisholm died on January 1, 2005 at age 80.
Watch the Netflix teaser below.
